An angiogenesis is a phenomenon wherein new blood vessels are created to form a new vascular network in the living body. The angiogenesis is found under normal physiological environment such as genesis and reproduction with regard to embryo, fetus, placenta, uterus and the like. It is also a pathologic phenomenon which accompanies wound healing, inflammation, growth of tumor and the like, and which is ophthalmologically seen in diabetic retinopathy, prematurity retinopathy, retinal venous occlusion, senile discoid macular degeneration and the like.
The angiogenesis greatly varies depending on the function and growth of endothelial cells, and is considered to be a cascade reaction which proceeds in the smallest vein along the following steps. That is, new blood vessels are presumably formed as a result of consecutive elementary reactions of (1) activation of vascular endothelial cells which are in the stage of rest upon differentiation, (2) destruction of cell matrix such as basement membrane by endothelial cells which expressed protease activity, (3) migration of endothelial cells, (4) proliferation of endothelial cells and (5) tube-formation by differentiation of endothelial cells [T. Oikawa, Drug News Perspest, Vol. 6, pp. 157-162 (1993)]. Each step of these reactions has been clarified to be promoted by angiogenesis promoters. Such angiogenesis promoters include, for example, blood vessel inducing factors [e.g., tumor angiogenetic factor (TAF)] secreted from tumor tissues, and growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor (FGF) present in various normal tissues, endothelial cell growth facor derived from platelets and vascular endothelial cell growth factor. In addition, cytokine, prostaglandine, monobutylin and angiogenine reportedly have similar direct or indirect effects [M. Klagsbrun et al., Annu. Rev. Physiol., Vol. 53, pp. 217-239 (1991)].
A substance which suppresses such angiogenesis include angiostatic steroids [Folkman J. et al., Science, Vol. 221, p. 719 (1983)] such as cortisone which inhibits growth of endothelial cells; medroxyprogesterone acetate which inhibits production of plasminogen activator by endothelial cells; fumagillin acid derivatives which inhibit proliferation of endothelial cells and tube-formation; polysaccharide sulfate SD-4152 which inhibits proliferation and migration of endothelial cells; and retinoic acid which is responsible for modification of endothelial cell differentiation [Tsutomu Oikawa, Kekkan to Naihi, vol. 2, pp. 470-480 (1992)].
However, the above-mentioned drugs which inhibit angiogenesis have not been complete therapeutic agents for clinically suppressing angiogenesis, since some of them cause strong side-effects, thereby posing problems in terms of safety, and others only show insufficient effects.